World Series 2014: Analyzing Biggest Role Players for Giants vs. Royals

The San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals notched impressive postseason runs on their way to the World Series. While these teams took different paths to the big dance, they punched their respective tickets thanks to their well-rounded squads.

Big-name players for both of these teams have come up huge in recent games. Madison Bumgarner has been lights out for the Giants, and Mike Moustakas continued his clutch play for the Royals. However, lesser-known role players have played crucial parts in the success of these clubs, and that trend will continue in the World Series.

As we impatiently await these teams to compete on baseball's grandest stage, let's first take a look at the role player for each team who will tremendously impact the year's final series.

San Francisco Giants

Yusmeiro Petit

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

While Petit only appeared in two games during the Giants' playoff run, he played a crucial role in both of those contests.

He first appeared during an 18-inning marathon against the Washington Nationals. In that game, he went six strong innings, allowing just one hit while walking three and striking out seven on his way to a win. He came through again versus the St. Louis Cardinals, taking over for a struggling Ryan Vogelsong and pitching three innings, allowing one hit while walking one and striking out four for another win.

Here's a look at his numbers following those two games, via MLB:

Those fantastic showings solidified Petit's role as San Francisco's go-to long man.

Manager Bruce Bochy recently praised the reliever's efforts during a press conference, via ESPN.com:

"

Petit in the job he's done in that role that we've had him in, you go back to Washington and without Petit it's hard to say what would have happened. In St. Louis he went out there and gave us three big innings. He's a great swingman. Vogey, he threw a great game against Washington. He had a little bit of a hiccup but no, I didn't think about changing.

"

The Royals lineup is full of players who give pitchers fits with tough at-bats. Their hitters have a knack for getting to starting pitchers early in a game and feasting on the bullpen thereafter. Having a pitcher like Petit in the mix allows San Francisco to buck that trend while cooling off Kansas City's bats.

He may not be the biggest name on the team, but Petit will be one of the most important role players in San Francisco's bid for a championship.

Kansas City Royals

Wade Davis

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

The Royals have just as important of a role player residing in their bullpen. Davis may only pitch roughly one inning per game, but he records outs in seemingly effortless fashion.

Davis has appeared in all eight of Kansas City's postseason contests for a total of 9.1 innings. In that span, he's allowed just five hits and one earned run while walking two and striking out 10 en route to two wins and a 0.96 ERA.

Even when asked to go more than one inning, Davis has flourished. Here's a look at his two-inning performance from an October 10 game against the Baltimore Orioles, via Kansas City's Twitter account:

This isn't a new trend for the reliever. Here's a look at his full 2014 statistics, via Ace of MLB Stats:

During an interview with Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald, here's what manager Ned Yost had to say about the reliever and his desire to pitch one-inning games:

"

Guys that can come in and—they don't pace themselves for seven or eight innings; they know it's going to be a one-inning stint—they give you everything they've got. It was funny. We wanted (Davis) to throw two innings (last year), and he said, 'I just prefer to throw one inning.' Why? 'Because when I get in reliever mode,' he said, 'I'm on full attack. I come at you with everything I've got. I want to get my arm used to that.' I said, 'All right.'

He came back throwing 96, 97 mph and was just phenomenal.

"

Davis has certainly been in attack mode during the playoffs. He will play a pivotal role once again in the World Series against a very talented and resilient Giants lineup. San Francisco has been able to put together some late-inning heroics more than once this postseason, and Davis will be a big part of attempting to put a stop to that.

When the Royals need three crucial outs during the championship series, they know who to call.